Second Chance (game show)
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| Second Chance | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Bill Carruthers, Jan McCormack |
| Starring | Jim Peck (host), Jay Stewart (announcer), Jack Clark (announcer) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | March 7 – July 15, 1977 |
Second Chance was an ABC game show that aired from March 7] to July 15, 1977 and is the predecessor to the CBS game show Press Your Luck. Jim Peck hosted while Jay Stewart and Jack Clark each served as announcers. The show was produced by The Carruthers Company, which also produced Press Your Luck.
Rules
Gameplay was relatively the same as Press Your Luck, consisting of two question rounds and two "Big Board" rounds.
Question Round
In the question round, Peck read a question to the three contestants. The players each wrote their answers on a board and placed it on a shelf at the front of their podium. Peck then provided information as to how well the contestants answered (e.g., "One or more of you may be correct"). After supplying three possible answers, the contestants were given a "second chance" to change their answer.
A correct answer with an original guess earned three spins to use in the second half of the round. A correct "second chance" answer earned one spin.
Three questions were played per question round, for a possible total of nine spins.
Board Round
Each contestant used their spins to accumulate money and prizes on an 18-space game board. During each spin, a lighted cursor rapidly moved about the board, but unlike Press Your Luck, the squares themselves did not change in value. The contestant would stop the light on a square by hitting a plunger.
One of three outcomes were possible after stopping the board:
- Cash: The value was added to the player's bank.
- Prize box: A photograph of a prize was displayed in the square and its value added to the player's bank.
- Devil: The contestant lost all of his winnings to that point.
Cash Values
Round Two contained higher cash values than in Round One. Also, each round contained a big money space located at the top of the board. During Round One, landing on the big money space earned $2,500. In Round Two, the big money space was worth $5,000 and an additional free spin. Later in the series, the big money space in Round Two still offered a free spin and rotated values of $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, $4,000, and $5,000. Unlike Press Your Luck, there was no Big Bucks space.
Prizes
Prizes in Round One were generally valued up to $500. Prizes in Round Two included more luxurious items such as rooms of furniture, trips, furs and automobiles.
Devils
Any player who landed on a devil four times over the course of the game forfeited any remaining spins and was eliminated from further play.
Passing Spins
If a contestant feared the next spin would result in landing on a devil, they could pass any of his remaining spins to one of their opponents (usually the contestant in the lead). A contestant who had spins passed to them was required to use them at the beginning of their next turn. However, landing on a devil changed the passed spins to earned spins and gave the player the option to continue or pass all remaining spins to another player.
After each player had taken the spins they earned or were passed, the game moved to the second question round.
The player with the highest score at the end of the second round won the game and kept their winnings.
Set
The speed at which the indicator moved around the board was much faster than on Press Your Luck. A single pattern was used for the flashing selector during the first taped episodes but was later changed to a pattern of 64 flashes per spin.
Pilot
In the pilot episode, devils accumulated by the players appeared on four screens behind each of them. When the show went to air in 1977, the devils were shown on small cards flipping up on the contestants' podiums. Also, the pilot did not offer an additional spin when landing on the $5,000 space.
All three contestants who participated in the pilot later appeared in other shows. Maggie Brown competed on both Second Chance and it's successor Press Your Luck (both the pilot and an actual episode) as well as Wipeout, the latter two of which were both hosted by the late Peter Tomarken. Jack Campion participated in several other pilots, including Press Your Luck, Card Sharks and a 1983 pilot for what would eventually be the revival of Jeopardy!. He also appeared in the 1984 pilot of the latter show. Lynn Klein competed on Double Dare before Second Chance.
Episode Status
This show was canceled after a 19-week run. It is believed that all of the episodes from this series have been destroyed. The only episode known to exist is the third pilot taped on November 9, 1976; An three-minute montage is circulating on YouTube.
Theme
The theme song of this show was originally used on the short-lived 1976 version of I've Got A Secret. A remix would later be used on the Australian version of the game show Family Feud.